The road less travelled.
My investing story has was supposed to just happen on a well-groomed, lit, easy highway, however, Just like life, I had to swerve or run over road kill, yell at my portfolio for not doing what I thought it should be (drivers), hit potholes, decided that the best and fastest route was this other alternate road, which was slow, long windy and brought me closer to my starting point then my destination.
I had to pull over, take a nap, reassess what I was doing and start from scratch. With renewed focus and taking the time to understand what I was truly trying to achieve, I'm well on my way now with my goal to retire and spend my remaining time on this earth, choosing to do what I want to do. Kids, travel, volunteer, etc.
In 2012, I was given good advice from a very wise investor; stick with Canadian banks, they are tried, tested and true. I was told to be boring and I would get there. I chose to go the other way, bought volatile positions that went bankrupt or to this day are pretty much worthless (these are my roadkill, potholes and terrible drivers - to be fair - we are all terrible drivers at least at some point, most don't want to self-assess.
In 2016, I started over, refocus my strategy and bought the safe positions, banks and utilities, things were going somewhat ok but still to 'slow' for my goals so...
In 2021, I pulled my entire portfolio, which was just over 100k and got into the rental business - still in this btw. I realized that while this is a good investment, there are a LOT of things I did not really comprehend until the bills started coming - a new deck, roof, property taxes, taxes, insurance, more taxes, and then more taxes. I haven't even talked about tenants, unpaid rent, etc. This is my 'the best and fastest route was this other alternate road, which was slow, long windy and brought me closer to my starting point then my destination' so...
In 2022, still not happy with my investment growth, I did some research and decided to go with the CC ETF strategy. For me, I'm comfortable with this, I'll take the the return today instead of growth tomorrow. Not for everyone, I get it. Do your thing. This is my 'pull over, take a nap, reassess what I was doing and start from scratch.'
My dividend returns:
2022 - $35.99
2023 - $458
2024 - $5,071
2025 - $17,564
2026 - $21,576 still have Oct, Nov and Dec so should push just north of $30,000
I don't plan on changing my strategy, I know there will be every driving scenario over there - I have no doubt at some point, I'll be calling a tow truck but I'm moving forward, I'll just need some help every now and again. I just crossed $3,200/mth in returns and a total portfolio of $240k. I'm reinvesting every dollar and at $10,000/mth, I'm shutting it down. Dec 2030 is my goal date.
For me, the road less travelled is starting late but I tell people I speak with who aren't investing and want to, Day 1 is THE best day to start. There is is no 'too late'.
